3 Responses

Ottayan — In normal or even volatile circumstances, I believe politics and sports should not mix. For instance, I have always supported cricketing relations between India and Pakistan, even at the height of terrorist activity. I do not advocate boycotting the Olympics in China, despite their government’s shameful human rights record.

Yet, there are times when it is impossible to ignore the fact that even sports is not independent of everything else. The situation in Zimbabwe is not about politics any more, it is about the violation of the most basic human rights on a scale that is incomprehensible. Yet, even in terrible circumstances, sporting relations can sometimes transcend the divide between nations if it is in the right spirit. Currently however, normal cricketing relations with that country will achieve nothing of that sort.

However, if the above arguments do not convince you, here’s a simple cricketing logic why they should not get back their full member status. They lost the status not because of Mugabe’s atrocties but simply because they were not good enough. Since then, they have done nothing to regain their test status. A match against them is still a one-sided travesty. Thus there is no reason to reward their lack of improvement by hosting meaningless matches involving them.

Abhishek – I agree with Ottayan, and while your political argument has merit, the question is – where do you draw the line? You choose to draw the line with Zimbabwe. For some, it could be Pakistan, for many it could be China. One can’t be selective about applying such a benchmark.

On the other hand, your cricketing argument is impeccable – if they’re not good enough, there’s no need to give them full member status.